As Night Falls
by Randomfacts137
Summary: After meeting the physical representation of Time, a single fan of Fairy Tail finds himself in a new body, a new world, and a whole new slew of problems. Beginning in the port city of Hargeon, our main character must master his new magic, and find out who exactly he's supposed to be.
1. Impossibility

**As Night Falls**

_Chapter One_

Impossibility

**AN: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

**EDIT: Some of this chapter has been rewritten to improve it's quality. Most of the changes start after the first third of the chapter, if you've already read this chapter.**

"Ergh..." I moan. For some strange reason, my bed feels really hard. And... why are my legs like that? I slowly pull my eyelids apart, and shift my head, ever so slightly, to examine my surroundings. As I take it all in, the words "Oh dear" manage to escape my traitorous lips before I can restrain them. I am sitting at what appears to be a small table with two chairs, suspended in a white void. In front of me there is a teacup with some sort of sour-smelling clear liquid in it. In the other chair is a strange woman, whose long black hair seems to be a single, fluid object, and whose gray eyes seem to hold all the secrets of the universe within them.

"'Oh dear' indeed, little one," says my strange female companion, taking a sip out of her teacup, "You are wondering where you are, who I am, and why you are here, correct?" She closes her eyes as she takes another sip. "Aah how refreshing. There's nothing like high-concentration acid to revitalize you? Don't you agree?" I realize that my cup is quietly sizzling, meaning that my cup is full of acid as well. The woman smiles knowingly at me. "Anyway, to answer the questions you haven't asked yet, I am Tempora, Time given form, and this is a realm that I created for this specific purpose."

I flinch at her words, realizing just what they must mean. "Yes," she says, "I am capable of doing whatever I want to you, and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it. But the purpose of bringing you here is actually for something I would know that you would enjoy." She leans across the table, and whispers in my ear, "Let's just get one thing out of the way, first. I'll have to fix up your body in order for you to properly entertain me." She leans back, and snaps her fingers.

I am temporarily blinded by a flash of extremely bright light. When my vision finally clears, Tempora grins at me from across the table. She waves her hand, then yells, "Get on with it!" at me. I flinch and look down to examine myself. My eyes widen, my entire head turns bright red, and I quickly move my hands to cover myself. Because Tempora saw fit to remove my clothes.

"Oh, come now. Don't be embarrassed. It's just your clothes. I mean, considering I'm _Time given form_, I _have_ actually seen you nude before. And it's not like this is what you normally look like, either," says Tempora. She stands, and I realize that I have been so focused on her face that I didn't realize that she wasn't wearing clothes either. I quickly avert my eyes, focusing on the ground instead. I hear her sigh. "Fine then, have it your way." Suddenly I'm wrapped in a very thick gray blanket. I look up, and Tempora is wearing a simple shirt and jeans. "There, good enough for you?" I nod, and she smiles.

I open up the blanket carefully, without exposing my body too much. I examine myself, then wrap myself up in the blanket again. I carefully breathe deeply, then I look directly at Tempora. "I have the body of a six-year-old girl now. I am definitely not six years old."

Tempora frowns. "Really, no comment about the whole 'I changed your gender' part?" She crosses her arms.

"Well, with the age you put me at, I should have time to adjust to the whole thing before it really matters," I explain, "And it's not like I care what gender I am. Well, sex, not gender. Have to be correct with these terms.

"All right, fine. You win this round, human," she grins at me, "Anyway, I am sending you to a place with magic and dragons and wizards and things like that. The specific country I'm sending you to is Fiore. Recognize the name?"

I nod. "Fairy Tail."

"Correctamundo! Your brain's a bit like the TARDIS now, what with it translating most languages to and from you. So, people anywhere will be able to understand you. You also have Shadow Molding Magic, which basically allows you to make things out of shadows... I guess that that part's obvious. ANYWAY! Um... Oh yeah! The person you're about to become was a real person at one point. See if you can guess who they were!" Tempora pulls a small black pen out of one of her pockets, then scribbles something down on a piece of paper that she pulled out of my ear. She then tapes it to my chest. "Don't read this until you feel like it."

With those really strange last words, Tempora disappears, leaving me all alone in the middle of the void. The table and chairs start to fade away, and a door appears right next to me. I stand, and the blanket falls off, leaving me completely uncovered. I panic for a second, wondering what the locals would think of me, then I remember something. "Shadow Make... Clothes!" I yell, then point both my hands down toward the ground. A black magic circle appears underneath me, and shadows reach out and wrap around me. They quickly form a simple black shirt with a black skirt and black tights. I even have black shoes and a black ribbon in my black hair. I sigh, "I guess that's what happens when you make things out of shadows." Then I pause to wonder how exactly I just did that.

I try something else. "Shadow Make... uh... Sword!" I throw my hands forward in the same motion as before. Nothing happens, except for a few black wisps coming out of my hands. I rub my temples and decide not to think about how I was able to do it perfectly before.

I pull the note off of my chest and read it. It says, 'Congratulations, your name is Concordia Nox!' I sigh. What a silly thing to do. I crumple the note up and throw it to the side. I then walk toward the door and open it.

After I adjust to the bright sunlight, I look around. I appear to be in a city, but I can't tell where or when. I start walking in a random direction, hoping to find something familiar. I get a few looks for my strange choice of colors, but nobody bothers actually talking to me. In order to keep things that way, I keep my worry off my face, and display only stoic determination, but inside, I'm falling apart. I mean, I was just separated from my friends and family for what will possibly be forever!

After a few seconds of contemplation I come to a couple of decisions. First, I really should stop worrying about getting back home and start worrying about where the heck I am, which could be anywhere, and _when_ I am, which could be anywhen. And second, I should really try to keep the storyline as close to the original Fairy Tail as possible. I also realize that this entire thing is _probably _just a figment of my imagination, or possibly my self finally succumbing to my incredibly rampant insanity. Then I realize that the fact that I recognized these things means that the chances of those being true is greatly lowered and I quickly stop contemplating theoretical possibilities.

After a couple hours, I hear faint voices off in the distance. They are yelling things like, "Salamander!" and "I love you!". I immediately recognize the name, and start walking in that direction. A couple of minutes later, I reach the source of the commotion. There is a large crowd of girls surrounding a single man, who looks like a stereotypical rich jerk.

Seeing the man, my heart rate picks up, and I feel a strong urge to run to him and do whatever he asks of me. I start to do so, before I recognize a certain blonde in the crowd. As soon as I see her, I remember the very first episode of Fairy Tail, and that this so-called 'Salamander' uses Charm Magic. The spell immediately lets go of me and my heart slows back down to its normal pace. I wonder if that's what being in love feels like. Then I decide not to fall in love again, because it's not a pleasant feeling. I then lean against a nearby wall to watch the events unfold from a distance.

As I watch Lucy's blonde hair make its way through the crowd, I notice a familiar pink-haired boy accompanied by a bipedal blue cat run into the square. Right on time, he pushes his way through the girls, doesn't recognize 'Salamander' and promptly gets beaten up by the girls. Amused, I start making my way toward them at this point, recognizing the scene.

After Natsu gets beaten up again, Lucy walks up to him, thanks him, and begins to introduce herself. Before she can do so, I say, "Hello." Nervous tension fills my body and my brain quickly starts shutting down higher processing centers in favor of antisocial behavior. A second passes as I force myself out of it.

Lucy, Natsu, and Happy all look at me. Lucy crouches down to my height and says, "Hello, little girl. Where are your parents?"

As soon as she asks the question, I freeze, and start constructing a plausible story. I have to be careful here, otherwise I might end up making an overly-complex story. So I go with the easy answer, which just so happens to be "I don't have any." It's simple and can have many meanings.

Lucy frowns at this. Clearly she isn't happy that I'm here all alone without any parents. Well, neither am I. Before she can say anything else, I pipe up and say, "But I'm here to thank him for distracting me from Salamander's Charm spell." I quickly thank Natsu awkwardly.

I start to walk away, but Lucy calls out, "Wait!" I turn back to her, and she says, "Would you like to have lunch with us?" I put a massive smile on my face and I quickly run back to her, forcing myself to thank her repeatedly. You'd think that it would be easy to thank people for doing something for you, but it just... isn't.

Lucy takes the three of us to a nearby restaurant, where she buys us lunch, Natsu and Happy because they saved her, and me because she feels sorry for me. Probably. I sit next to Lucy, while the other two sit opposite us. Natsu and Happy eat massive amounts, spreading food everywhere, just like in the show. It's even more disgusting in person. I kind of feel bad because she's paying for my meal in addition to Natsu and Happy's, but it's necessary to keep up my disguise. Doesn't mean that I don't feel guilty over wasting resources, though.

Lucy introduces herself, "I'm Lucy. It's nice to meet all of you!"

Happy responds with his trademark, "Aye!"

Lucy continues, "So, Natsu and Happy and Concordia, right?" She looks to me at the end. I wait a couple seconds, before remembering my name and nodding, while Natsu thanks her. "Slow down, you're throwing food everywhere..." she says to Natsu. She then gets a rather annoyed look, before saying, "So that Salamander guy was using a Charm spell, as Concordia said earlier." I smile at her, and she smiles back. "It can attract people to you, even against their will. Sale of it was banned year ago, though." She seems to get angry. "What a creep, using it to get popular." Which he is. Lucy looks back up and regains her smile, "But I broke free of the spell thanks to you barging in! So this is my thanks!"

Natsu continues eating, but mumbles out a "I see" before shoving more food into his mouth. Which is still really disgusting.

Lucy continues, unfazed, and says, "Believe it or not, I'm actually a wizard myself!"

I say, "Really? So am I!" The three of them stare at me, apparently rather surprised.

Lucy asks, "What kind of magic do you use? I'm a Celestial Spirit user, myself."

"I'm a Shadow-Make user. I can make things out of darkness." I turn my head down. "Which should explain my clothes..." I choose not to mention the fact that I probably could only do it once.

Lucy is shocked and asks, rather loudly, "Your clothes are made out of shadows!?"

I frown at her while blushing, attempting to make her realize just how loudly she said that. She gets the hint and says, "Oops..." I mean really, it's kind of embarrassing to admit that your only clothes are actually immaterial.

I quickly continue the conversation to avoid more awkwardness. "So, are you part of a guild?"

She looks to the side, rather embarrassed, and says, "Not yet..." She turns to Natsu, "Oh, guilds are organizations where wizards gather to share information and find work. You can't be considered a full-fledged wizard unless you're in a guild." She clasps her hands together and starts fidgeting with a large smile on her face. "There are lots of guilds all over the world, and it's apparently really tough getting into the popular ones! The one I want to join is filled with amazing wizards!" She starts talking faster and faster, while Natsu and Happy look at each other and then back to her with bored looks on their faces.

Lucy starts venting steam out of her nose and says excitedly, "Oh, my! I want to join it, but I bet it'll be tough!"

Natsu looks like he's about to say something, but I interrupt, and say, "What guild do you want to join, Lucy?" Because she really needs to not run into that creepy Bora guy. It'd probably be better for everyone involved.

She hugs herself and starts fidgeting even more, "I want to join Fairy Tail! They're just the best!"

Happy and Natsu immediately light up, and Happy says, "Hey, Lucy! _We're _in Fairy Tail!"

Lucy's eyes light up. "Oh, you are!? Can you help me join!?"

Natsu leans back, "All you have to do is ask the Master. It's not that hard, really. You could come with us, if you want." At this point I start wondering _why_ Lucy never bothered to try to find out what the standards and application process for Fairy Tail are. And then I realize that it's an anime. And it's Lucy.

Lucy immediately says yes, and celebrates for a few seconds. Then she turns to me and asks, "What about you, Concordia? Do you want to join Fairy Tail as well?"

I grin widely. Everything is going to plan. "Yes, please!" I _just_ need to learn how to do my magic properly before someone asks me to demonstrate. Hopefully my body still retains some muscle memory or something from wherever Tempora got it from. Or I get instructions.

Lucy immediately calms down and asks Natsu and Happy, "Come to think of it, it sounded like you were looking for someone."

Happy replies, "Aye! Igneel!"

Natsu takes a bite out of a pizza and mumbles through the half-chewed food, "We're here 'cause we heard a Salamander was coming to this town, but it was someone else."

Happy nods, "Yeah, he didn't look like a Salamander at all."

Natsu continues, "A Salamander's a fire dragon, so we thought he'd be Igneel."

Lucy starts sweatdrops and asks, "What kind of person looks like a fire dragon?"

Natsu and Happy turn to her, and Natsu answers, "He's not a person. Igneel is a dragon." My next thought is '_God, I love dragons!_' And then I think '_That's actually probably something to tell Natsu to help earn his trust._'

Lucy, shocked and completely oblivious to my internal dialogue, asks, "Huh?"

Happy lifts his paw up and says, "Aye! He's an actual dragon!"

Lucy jumps backward in her chair and exclaims, "Huh!?"

After Lucy stares blankly at Natsu and Happy for a short time, she yells, "Why would there be a dragon in the middle of town!?"

Natsu and Happy each lift up one finger while their jaws hang open, as if they had never realized that.

Lucy yells, "You just now realized that!?" She facepalms, calms down and places some money on the table. She gets up and says, "Well, I'll see you later. Enjoy your food." She starts walking out, but she's interrupted by Natsu and Happy attracting the attention of the entire restaurant by getting on their knees and thanking her from the floor. Which embarrasses both her _and _me. I mean, I have to sit at the same table as them!

After she yells at them a bit, she says, "It's okay! You helped me, so now we're even!"

Natsu and Happy argue that they still felt indebted to her. Natsu jumps up and says, "I know! You can have this!" He attempts to hand her a piece of paper with Salamander's signature on it. She violently refuses it, then quickly leaves.

Natsu and Happy sit back down at the table. Natsu looks over at me, "Oh? You're still here?"

I look down at my hands, suddenly nervous again, "Y-yeah... I don't really have anywhere else to go..." I suddenly come to a realization. "Wait... Lucy said that she wanted to go with us to Fairy Tail, but she left... and we have no way of telling her when we're leaving..."

Natsu waves it off, "I'm sure we'll meet up again eventually. If we need to, we can always go look for her." He finishes off his food, then reclines in his seat.

I wait a couple of seconds before asking, "So, what's it like in Fairy Tail?"

~~~~SCENE TRANSITION~~~~

"Ahh, we ate so much!"

"Aye!"

The three of us are currently standing on the side of a road, looking over the edge and at the sea. Happy notices something. "Say, is that the ship where that Salamander is having his party?"

Natsu immediately clutches his mouth and mutters, "I feel sick!"

Happy waves his paw at Natsu, "Stop feeling nauseous just from the thought of it."

After the meal, Natsu, Happy, and I all had talked for a while, mostly about Fairy Tail. He told me about his extreme motion sickness, and his Dragon Slayer powers. While I already knew all this from the anime, it wouldn't do to let him know about that. After all, that would just make me seem creepy.

Nearby, a trio of girls is chattering about fake-Salamander. When one of them says, "I heard he's a member of Fairy Tail!" Natsu turns toward the boat and glares at it, before covering his mouth and gagging again. He recovers and mutters "Fairy Tail..."

I ask, "What is it, Natsu?" despite knowing exactly what _it_ is.

He doesn't look away from the boat. "I'm in Fairy Tail... but I didn't recognize him."

"Do you mean he's an imposter!?" I ask, pretending to be afraid.

"I don't know for sure. But I won't let anyone disgrace the name of Fairy Tail!" He punches his hand, causing flames to shoot out. "Happy!"

"Aye!" Happy grows wings, then Natsu grabs onto his tail and they both lift off.

Natsu turns back to me. "Stay there! I'll be back!" I nod to him, and they take off toward the ship. I wait a couple seconds, then I remember that Natsu's terrible with boats. With that in mind, I decide to take what is probably a massive risk, and try to test out my abilities.

I quickly run toward a nearby shadow, close my eyes, and focus on it, guiding myself based on my instincts. I feel a strange numbing sensation slowly spread up my legs. When I open my eyes, I see that I am slowly sinking into the shadow itself. After making sure that no one is watching, I spend a couple more minutes sinking fully into the darkness. When I look around, everything appears to be in negative light. And I can control my movement in all three dimensions, while matter seems to have absolutely no effect on my movement.

I start making my way across the harbor and toward the cruise ship, somehow navigating the strange otherworld, where I see Natsu land. I sink under the waves and search the sea floor for a glint of metal, just in case Lucy actually believed whatever half-assed lie the fake Salamander came up with. Spotting her keys, I realize that she _is_, in face, that gullible. I rise to the surface and make my way up the hull and into the cabin where I'm sure Natsu landed. Inside it, I see Natsu laying on the floor, sick from the rocking of the boat. As I expected. Lucy is standing in front of Bora and a bunch of his goons, and there are a lot of sleeping women on the boat. Again, as I expected.

Happy is floating above a large hole in the ceiling, where Natsu obviously fell onto the boat. He calls down to Lucy, and she responds, "He tricked me! He said that he was friends with Natsu and that you two would be here and we'd all go to Fairy Tail together!"

I rise up out of a shadowy corner, resist the temptation to tease her, yell "Lucy", and throw her keys.

She catches them and grins her thanks. She points her key at Bora and says, "Open! Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!" A mermaid with long blue hair holding a vase or a pot emerges from the subsequent magic circle. Happy immediately assumes that she's a fish, but Lucy dissuades him. This is when I realize that Happy's obsession with fish is actually kind of weird. It's like someone who enjoys staring at food all day, and if they see something that even remotely resembles food, they just start staring. Actually... that's almost exactly what it is. It's still pretty weird, though. "Aquarius!" Lucy says, pointing toward shore, "Use your power to push this ship back to the port!"

Aquarius turns toward her with one eye closed and mutters, "Ugh."

Lucy gets angry and yells, "Did you just say 'Ugh'!?"

Happy scolds her for overreacting, while all of the ship's crew just stare at the argument.

Aquarius looks away from Lucy again and says, "Heed this, annoying child. Drop my key again and I'll kill you." Lucy immediately apologizes. Aquarius moves off of the ship, lifts up her pot-like thing and uses it to throw a massive wave of water at the boat and sweep it into shore.

Lucy yells, "Wait, I forgot we're on the boat too!" as we're all swept toward shore. Now, as I'm sure most people would agree, this kind of thing is pretty scary. Like, really, really scary. But I know that Aquarius isn't trying to kill anyone, so I keep from screaming. About that, at least. Hey, I spent the entire time tumbling around the cabin and hitting my head on several painful things. You would scream then, too.

After we wash up on shore, Aquarius says something to Lucy, but I'm too dizzy and in pain to register language. Lucy yells something about hearing. I slowly stumble up to her and hold my head in my hands. I then promptly fall over.

After I recover enough to human speech, I turn my gaze over to the wreckage of Bora's ship. People have started gathering around it. Bora climbs out of the rubble and mutters, "Damn! What in the hell..."

Natsu climbs up on top of the crashed ship. "You're a Fairy Tail wizard?" he asks.

"Yeah, so what!?" asks Bora confidently. He turns to his crew. "Get'em, men!" His crew nod and start making their way toward Natsu.

"Let me get a closer look at you," says Natsu, slapping away two of Bora's men. "I'm Natsu of Fairy Tail! I've never seen you before in my life!"

One of the crewmen notices Natsu's Fairy Tail mark and says to Bora, "Th-that mark! He's the real deal, Bora!" Bora reprimands him for using his real name.

Happy says to Lucy, "Bora. Bora of Prominence. He was kicked out of the Titan Nose wizard guild years ago." I'm in too much pain to act surprised, but thankfully no one notices.

Natsu starts walking slowly toward Bora. "I don't care if you're a good guy or a bad guy. But I won't let you tarnish Fairy Tail's name!"

"And what are you going to do about it, kid?" Bora yells with confidence, "Prominence Typhoon!" A swarm of pink fire engulfs Natsu, seemingly killing him. Luckily, I don't have to act surprised here, because I already know about Natsu's abilities. "The bigger the talk, the weaker the man." He chuckles and starts to walk away.

"This tastes horrible," comes Natsu's voice out of the fire, "Are you really a fire wizard? This is the worst fire I've ever tasted." He sucks up the flames and wipes his mouth with his hand. Everyone's jaw, except for mine and Happy's, drops. "Thanks for the meal," he says with a grin.

One of Bora's crew members yells, "W-what the hell is this guy!?"

Happy gets a really creepy look and says, "Fire won't work on Natsu."

"I've never seen magic like that before!" yells Lucy, surprise filling her voice. Which is kind of sad really. There's a lot more magics out there than Lucy knows, and I'm sure she knows that, so why she's surprised is beyond me. Or maybe she actually thinks that she knows most magics. I hope she doesn't, but, now that I think about it, she probably does. Which is even sadder.

"Now that I've eaten, I feel re-energized!" yells Natsu, interrupting my brief internal debate, "Here goes! Fire Dragon's Roar!" His cheeks swell up and he spits out a wave of fire that destroys a small portion of the town, and knocks out most of Bora's men.

One of the few surviving members says, "B-bora, I've seen this guy before! That pink hair and scaly-looking scarf! No doubt about it! He's the real-!"

Lucy interrupts him, "Salamander!"

Fire collects around Natsu's fists, "Pay attention, now! This is what Fairy Tail wizards are like!" Totally. Epic. And he's not even _close_ to how strong he gets later in the story!

Bora panics and yells, "Red Shower!" A wave of small, pink pellets made out of flame shoot toward Natsu. Natsu dodges them and punches Bora into a cliff on the other side of town.

"He eats fire and punches with fire..." Lucy says, "Is this really magic!?"

"Dragon lungs for breathing fire, dragon scales for dissolving fire," Happy explains, "and dragon talons that are wrapped with fire... It's an ancient spell that lets his body take on the qualities of a dragon." Well, not really a spell, more like an entire branch of magic.

"Are you serious?" asks Lucy, incredulous.

"It was originally used for defeating dragons," replies Happy, while Lucy makes slightly disgruntled noises.

Off in the distance, Natsu and Bora continue to throw fire at each other. Bora uses a spell that destroys half of the city with some kind of beam. Honestly, all the explosions are _not_ helping my head pain at all. I start to wonder if I've suffered something really bad. And then I hope that my body follows anime physics as much as Natsu's does.

"It's Dragon Slayer Magic," continues Happy, "Igneel taught it to him." Natsu punches Bora so hard that he flies through many buildings and up into a bell in the town's bell tower. Happy then says something about using smoke to smoke food, not fire.

Lucy stares at the destruction, "Wow! That was amazing... but also a little overboard!"

"Aye!"

"Don't give me 'Aye!'" yells Lucy. The sound of marching echoes toward us, and Lucy asks, "The army!?" Well, who else would it be?

All three of us are then yanked away by Natsu, who says, "Crap! Let's get out of here!" I am suddenly struck by the idea that we're basically being taken away by some kind of terrorist, at least in the eyes of the law enforcement. I quickly bury the pointless thought and starting running after Natsu.

"Why do I have to!?" yells Lucy. Clearly she isn't quick on the whole 'town destroyed by someone who publicly thanked you in an extreme fashion' thing.

"You wanna join our guild, don't you!?" asks Natsu. Not my point, but whatever. "Come on!" he yells. Lucy nods and the four of us continue running until the army just gives up.

And that's how you destroy a town and escape from the army by beating up a criminal.

**AN: And that's the first chapter. I hope you enjoy the story! Also, I would be happy if you could review the story. Feel free to be as harsh as you want, I have an self-image that's stronger than steel!**


	2. Creepy Magic

**As Night Falls**

_Chapter Two_

Creepy Magic

**AN: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

**Also, if you have not read the first chapter within the last couple days, I recommend you go reread it, because I made a few edits based on the suggestions from Naruto4Ever. And Naruto4Ever, if you did not get my PM, then thank you for your review!**

"Welcome to Fairy Tail!" shouts Happy. As I gaze up at the guild hall, I am filled with an indescribable, but rather pleasant feeling. I pinch myself and, feeling the pain that results, quickly decide that this is not a dream. And I'm probably not insane, either, because everything I've seen so far has been remarkably solid and constant. Unless I'm just that good, even when insane.

"Wow!" says Lucy. I have to admit, seeing the Fairy Tail building in person is quite awe-inspiring.

Despite this, Natsu immediately, and irreverently, strides over to the doors and kicks them open, yelling "We're back!" Happy echoes his loud greeting.

A large number of voices call out an assortment of various ways to say "Welcome back". Lucy and I step forward to see further into the guild.

Near the leftmost wall from our perspective are two men. One calls out to Natsu, "You really went all out this time! I heard Hargeon was‒" He is immediately interrupted by Natsu's flaming fist meeting his face.

After the guy, who I don't think is supposed to ever appear in the story again, crashes through several tables, Natsu yells, "You lied to me about the Salamander!"

He replies, "Don't blame me! I only told you some rumors I happened to hear!" Sometimes Natsu's stupidity amazes me. Which is pretty hard. I've seen some pretty stupid people.

As the two of them continue their fistfight-slash-argument, and Lucy watches, completely dumbfounded, I start inching slowly back through the doorway, trying to avoid the mass battle that I know is going to take place soon.

An explosion destroys some tables and throws some guild members across the room. One of them flies directly into Happy, who's trying to calm Natsu down, and Happy goes flying even farther away and disappears from sight behind a table. I sigh, getting ready for the mass destruction that's sure to come.

Lucy catches my attention by standing calmly in the middle of the fight with her luggage by her side, and talking about how much she loves Fairy Tail. Or something like that.

I hear a masculine voice say, "Oh? Natsu's back!?" and I shudder. Gray Fullbuster, the ice mage/compulsive stripper _and_ the most likely person to see through my magic. Looking slightly to the left of Lucy, I see Gray standing proudly in just his boxers. My eyes decide to settle on just his face, and nothing else. Don't want to see anything I shouldn't, after all, and I know he loses his boxers at some point in this fight.

He immediately stalks over to the point where the fighting is thickest, which is obviously where Natsu is and yells, "It's time to settle things from the other day, Natsu!"

From her place at the bar, I hear Cana call out, "Gray, your clothes." Gray immediately looks down and swears loudly. Cana then looks down and mutters something I can't quite here, but I think is probably condescending, and then lifts up an entire barrel and starts drinking it.

Honestly, I'm surprised she even _has_ a liver at this point.

As Gray and Natsu continue to yell at each other, I watch Elfman walk up behind Lucy. He says, "It's only noon and you're already whining and crying? You aren't kids, you know." Honestly, with his size and scar, he _could_ cut an imposing figure. But I've already seen what he looks like after his training, and this him isn't nearly as intimidating, so the effect is kind of ruined. He then yells something about men speaking with their fists. And then Gray and Natsu take him out with one punch.

It's kind of sad, really, how powerful they are compared to everyone else.

Then Loke does something but I ignore him because he doesn't become awesome until later. I mean really. What's awesome about a guy who just has women hanging off of him all the time?

Mirajane walks up to Lucy and they have a relatively quiet conversation. I couldn't quite hear it over the sound of all the fighting, but I seem to remember it, from the show, being about the strangeness of Fairy Tail and their predisposition to arguing. And then Elfman lands on Mira.

And then Gray lands on Lucy, completely nude. My eyes immediately shift up above anything that should be covered while a blush spreads across my cheeks. I wait a couple seconds, then look down just in time to see Lucy clubbing Gray over the head with a bat. Loke, obviously attempting to be Lucy's knight in shining armor, picks her up princess-style and asks her if she's all right.

After he complains about the other members of Fairy Tail he gets punched by Elfman, who gets kicked by Natsu. Happy jumps up and says something, probably "Aye!"

Back over by the bar, Cana mutters something and pulls out one of her magic cards, which flashes blue. A light blue magic circle appears before her.

Gray, Elfman, Loke and Natsu also get into stances to perform their respective magics. As soon as I see this, I start backing away even further, because I don't really remember how this fight ends. And those guys are scary-powerful. At this point, I'm standing partly in the road. Luckily, no one seems to notice me standing here. But I wouldn't care, because I rather like not being injured.

After the five of them prepare their magic, a massive silhouette stomps it foot down in the middle of the guild. I'm really not sure where he came from, because I sure didn't see him before, but I quickly feel relieved and rush back into the guild itself, confident that there will be no more fighting.

The Master yells, "That's enough, you fools!" Of course, everyone stops fighting immediately. Mirajane says something to him and he responds with an affirmative.

Natsu then lords his stupi‒er, _courage_ over everyone else, and promptly gets a massive foot in his face as a reward for his trouble.

Makarov notices me and Lucy. "Hm? You two new here?" he asks.

Lucy barely manages to squeak out her answer, while I just nod. He then does some weird thing that probably involves the release of energy or something. He quickly shrinks down to only a couple feet tall. How he actually managed to naturally become that short is beyond me.

Anyway, then Master Makarov greets us politely with a "Nice to meetcha!"

Lucy says, "Tiny! Wait, he's your master...!?" Honestly, so rude. Of course he is.

However rude Lucy might be, Mirajane responds with her unflappable cheerfulness, "Yep! This is Makarov, Fairy Tail's master!"

Makarov turns and jumps toward the bar, hits his head on it, and turns toward the guild, clearing his throat as he does so. Everyone's attention turns to him, and they all seem to become a bit nervous. "You guys have gone and done it again!" he complains to them, lifting up a stack of papers, "Just look at how much paperwork the council sent me this time!" He waves it at them. "And it's all complaints! All you guys ever do is get the council mad at me!" He quietly shakes in rage for a few moments, then says, "However..." He lights the papers on fire, yells, "To hell with the council!" and throws it for Natsu to fetch like a dog.

"Listen up!" he continues, "Power that surpasses reason is still born from reason. Magic is not a miraculous power. It is only realized when the flow of energy inside us and the flow of energy in the natural world come into perfect sync!" He pauses. "Magic comes from mental strength and focus‒nay, it comes from your entire soul! Worry about the eyes watching from high above and you will make no progress in the ways of magic! Don't let the fools on the council scare you! Follow the path you believe in! That's what Fairy Tail wizards do!" He lifts up his right hand and makes a backward 'L' with it. The entire guild copies the motion and cheers loudly.

After the cheering has died down a bit, I start thinking. _'It is only realized when the flow of energy inside us and the flow of energy in the natural world come into perfect sync!'_ Those words apparently describe magic. Maybe they will help me cast mine. Although, I have no idea what they mean.

I think of a couple possibilities and decide to try them later, when I'm more alone. Before I seek out a quiet place where I can do just that, I follow Lucy up to Mirajane. "So, what are your names? And where would you two like your guild stamps? And what color?" she asks. Lucy, of course, asks for a pink one on the back of her hand, but I decide to put mine somewhere a bit more practical.

"I am Concordia Nox... Can you put a black one on the back of my neck?" I ask. It's easily concealed by my long hair, and it's easily accessible and not anywhere embarrassing. Mira stamps the back of my neck. It tingles for a little bit, then feels a bit warm before settling back to normal.

"There! You're now members of Fairy Tail!" she announces.

Lucy, of course, decides to go right up to Natsu and show off her mark. Which seems a bit odd, since they don't really know each other, but he _is_ the only person she knows at all here. So maybe it's not that odd. Whatever. I know what they're going to do, and that they're going to succeed at it, so I scan the crowd for someone that I might be able to make friends with.

I quickly spot Levy, and, after some quick thinking, decide that she might make a good candidate for friend-making, because she loves books, and I love books... and I just realized that I have no idea what kind of books exist in Earthland.

I approach Mirajane again, wait patiently for her to finish up her current conversation (with the Master), and I ask her where they keep their books. "Right over there, through that door and down the steps," she says cheerfully, pointing toward a doorway next to the bar.

I slowly, nervously navigate through the guild using the simple instructions she gave me. At several points I get really nervous and am tempted to go back and ask for clarification, but I force myself to follow my instincts through. I end up at the library without making a single wrong turn, probably because there only _was_ one fork, and the way was obvious.

Examining the shelves, I quickly pick off the first three books on the topmost shelf on the left side of the room, and start reading. I continue to read in a linear pattern for the next several hours, knowing that Mirajane will eventually come looking to make sure that I'm all right. It's in her personality.

Sure enough, after finishing _A Beginner's Guide to Molding Magic_, which I was very interested in, Mira walks in with a concerned look on her face. The concern immediately melts away when she sees me, and then returns when she sees the massive, orderly stack of books next to me.

She walks up to me, and then kneels down, "Did you read all of these?" I look up at her and nod. She frowns and says, "You know, you should be out there, meeting and talking with your new guild mates, not stuck in here, studying."

I open my mouth to reply, then shut it because I can't think of a reply. And then I open it again because I thought of a reply, and then close it again because I forgot it.

Mira giggles and grabs my arm and stands up, making sure I stand up with her. She then walks me out of the library and back into the guild hall. The entire time she is smiling cheerfully and holding my arm with a grip stronger than steel. Honestly, she can be scary sometimes, even without her Demon Take-Over.

Back in the guild hall, I nervously stand near the edges of the room, trying to find someone that I could talk to. After a few minutes, I had wandered near a window. It peaks my interest. After all, I haven't gotten to see what my new face looks like and everything.

I have a very young-looking face, with pale, almost gray skin, and my eyes are black. My hair is a shiny black mass tied into a ponytail that reaches my thighs. It is tied with a black bow. I am wearing a longish simple black dress, with some kind of black boots. Honestly, I looked like a stereotypical goth person without eyeliner or earrings. It did suit my magic, but seriously! Couldn't Tempora get a better fashion sense? Even _I_ know this isn't attractive. Uh... I think? Actually, that might just be my opinion. Who knows? I certainly don't.

"Excuse me, you're the new guild member that joined earlier, right?" a voice intrudes. I gasp and turn around, only to see that it's Levy, with Jet and Droy behind her. "Sorry if I scared you. I'm Levy. These two are Jet and Droy. We're Team Shadow Gear. What's your name?"

"Uh... Concordia," I say quietly, "Concordia Nox."

"That's a bit of an unusual name, don't you think?" she asks, smiling, "Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Concordia."

"It's nice to meet you too..." I mumble. Why oh why did she have to approach me!?

She seems to be oblivious to my obvious desire to not speak, and continues, "So, what do you like to do for fun, Concordia?"

Confidence instantly starts running through my veins. Aha! Perfect opportunity. "B-books... I like to read..." I manage to stammer out.

She claps her hands together, "Really? I do too! What kind of books do you read?" Jet and Droy, behind Levy, seem to have settled down for a long wait. A very large part of me wishes that it weren't so.

"Um... I like to read fiction... and non-fiction... and anything, really..." I say, "b-but I haven't actually gotten to read that much because I've never lived somewhere with a lot of them." I try to emphasize the first part and downplay the second part to hopefully convince her that it's something I don't want to talk about.

Levy immediately catches on to what I'm trying to say, and says instead, "Well, have you read..."

We have a rather mundane conversation about the various books we've both read. At some point, my shyness fades a bit, but it's definitely still there. But I'll definitely be more confident when talking with Levy from now on.

After our conversation ends, Levy and I go our separate ways, her and Jet and Droy on a mission, and me back to the library. However, before I reach the door next to the bar, Mira stops me and asks, "Concordia? Do you have a place to stay for the night?" I freeze.

I should have thought about it! Ugh... How could I have forgotten that I need a place to sleep!?

I quietly shake my head. She smiles, "Well, let's go ask around, shall we?" I nod, extremely reluctant as I am to ask for charity from people who don't know me.

After a short time spent questioning people, Lucy, who had just returned from saving Macao with Natsu, offers up a place in her newly-rented house for me. I quickly accept and thank her. Despite her occasional lapses in brain functionality, she is still quite friendly. After she says something about it being large for only 70,000 Jewel, I realize that I will need to learn the currency system here and not let anyone know that I don't know it.

Thanking Lucy again, I make my way back into the library. Inside it, I pick up the book about Molding Magic and start reading again, just to make sure I remember everything.

"All right," I murmur to myself, "Let's try this..." I sink into one of the poses that the book describes, standing with my feet a shoulder-width apart, and hunched over with my right fist in the palm of my left hand. I close my eyes, and concentrate on the world around me. It feels surprisingly easy compared to how the book described it, what with its 'Rarely does one get it right on their first try', and I feel a sensation of coolness spread over my body.

I open my eyes back up, without moving. Around me, the world has become negative, just like when I shadow-walked before. I turn my head to look at the room. In the corners of the room, where light does not reach, I can see vague figures standing in the high-contrasted shadows. They flow and shift around, standing in one spot one moment, and in another the next.

Meaningless and nonsensical whispers echo around me, making the entire thing feel incredibly creepy. The shadows themselves seem to come to life, shifting and twitching like a beating heart, or a breathing lung.

Suddenly, the whispers become understandable. "There she is..." "She has returned..." "She sees..." "She hears..." "She watches..." "She is afraid..." and other creepy phrases like that emerge from the shadow. Honestly, it was better when I couldn't understand them.

My right hand twitches, and everything falls apart and returns to normal. I relax from my position and let out the breath I didn't know I had been holding. "That was creepy..." I mutter. Shivers run up my spine as I recall what I had just seen. "Eugh... I don't know if I'll be getting any sleep tonight..."

I think about the state I had just gone in. "It seems like..." I murmur to myself, "... like I change my sight to see shadows instead of light. As if... photons are reversed! That's it! It shows me what _isn't_ there, which allows me to see what _is_." I feel incredibly proud of myself. That was remarkably fast deduction based on circumstantial evidence. And then I realize that that must mean that the shadows and whispers are actually there all the time, but people can't usually see them.

I shiver slightly, pick up a book about the history of Fiore, and sprint out of the room as fast as I can. Which isn't very fast... but it was impressive to me. After several books and several trips in and out of the room, I manage to glean that 100 Jewel is about one dollar. Which sucks, because I was already terrible with money, but now I have to _convert_ it. In my head, at least.

I think back to the only price I've heard so far. 70,000 Jewel is about 700 dollars. So, apparently 700 dollars is a cheap rent for a house like Lucy's. The more you know.

I'm suddenly hit by a wave of exhaustion. When I look out into the guild hall, it's mostly empty, with most of the members having gone home for the night. Was it really that late? I notice Lucy standing near the doorway, looking a bit worried. She notices me looking at her and her worry disappears.

Tiredly, I make my way over to her, and we both start walking to her house in silence. When we arrive, I fall on the nearest piece of furniture and know no more.

**AN: Thank you for reading, and I hope that you'll take time out of your day to review my story. Anything else is completely your decision.**


	3. Revelations

**As Night Falls**

_Chapter Three_

Revelations

**AN: So, the third chapter is done. And thanks to everyone who has favorited and followed! I really appreciate it! You inspired me to finish this chapter in only one day! :3**

**Ack! Almost forgot! I don't own Fairy Tail!**

"MY ROOM!" A loud yell wakes me up and causes me to fall off the couch I had fallen asleep on. Oh dear. It looks like this is happening. I get up and look around, and then I hear Natsu crash into a wall in Lucy's room. Or, at least, what I think is Lucy's room. She really didn't have time to give me a tour of the place since I had fallen asleep right away. "What are you two doing here!?" she yells.

I sit up and rub my eyes, ignoring the ongoing argument between Natsu and Lucy. I then get up and start slowly making my way over to Lucy's room. I look inside just to see Natsu get sent flying by Lucy in a bath towel. She grabs a sheaf of papers and clutches them to her chest.

"Now I'm curious. What is that?" Natsu asks, sporting a couple bruises and a bandage.

"It's none of your business! Just get out of here!" yells Lucy, clearly upset that Natsu entered her home uninvited. With good reason, of course.

"Yeah, right!" Natsu replies cheerfully, "We came to hang out!" Sometimes, Natsu, you can be denser than a black hole.

"So selfish..." weeps Lucy.

"Come on! You let _her_ stay here!" he argues, pointing directly at me. Did he really not see a difference between me and him? I'm pretty sure there's a _very_ big difference.

"That's because she's a girl! And she asked first!" yells Lucy. You might as well give up, Lucy, there's no convincing him.

"What does her being a girl have to do with anything?" asks Happy innocently.

"Ugh..." mutters Lucy, obviously giving up beneath the wave of sheer obliviousness before her. Good job, Lucy. Do the smart thing. And so Lucy did the smart thing. She got dressed and served them tea. I sat at the table with them and just did my best to be ignored.

"I just moved in, so I don't have anything for entertaining guests. Drink your tea and get out," she says, irritated.

"What a cruel person..." complains Natsu. Not that he has any right to complain at all.

"Aye," replies Happy. You could probably replace Happy's vocal chords with a noisemaker that just says "Aye" every time he tries to speak, and no one would notice for quite a while. Not that I would do that, of course. Ahem.

"Oh, I know! You can show us all the key guys you've gathered!" says Natsu.

"They're celestial spirits, not 'key guys'," says Lucy, annoyed.

Happy says, "How many celestial spirits do you have contracts with, Lucy?" Wait, he just said something other than "Aye"! How is this possible!? I love sarcasm.

"Six!" says Lucy. She is now more cheerful, evidently because she's now talking about something she enjoys. "And there are different types!" And so Lucy began talking about celestial spirits and what kinds of them there are, and I just tried not to fall asleep on the table. I'm not a morning person, okay?

When I next raise my head, the first thing I hear is, "Well said, Plue!" from Natsu. Well, looks like I failed.

"You're communicating!?" asks Lucy rather loudly. I quickly stand and stumble into the next room just in time to see Natsu staring creepily at Lucy, who asks him what he wants.

"All right! It's decided! Let's team up!" yells Natsu. And then Happy describes to Lucy exactly what teams are, but I'm too tired to pay attention to what he says.

Natsu and Lucy do some sort of handshake that I would never be able to do on the first try and they both agree to team up.

"Okay! Let's get right to work!" says Natsu, "I've already decided on a job!" He holds out a job request paper. Honestly, I feel like I should be offended that they aren't even paying attention to me, but I really don't care.

"Oh, you're so impatient. Let me see!" says Lucy, grabbing the request from him while he gets an evil look that she doesn't notice. Then Lucy starts reading the request out loud and I stop paying attention. My eyelids slowly close...

I open my eyes suddenly to find that I'm all alone. "Ugh... they must have already left..." I mutter, "Why do I have to be so tired right now?" I rub my eyes again and decide to slowly make my way to the guild. Which I then do.

After finally making my way to the guild, I feel much more awake than before and ready to try a simple job. I carefully make my way through the usual crowd, stand at a fair distance from Nab, and try to see what jobs are there. One of them catches my eye. It says:

_To Concordia Nox: Please come at once to a location inside the forest east of your location. You will know when you get there._

That's a bit odd. The reward is... 10,000,000 Jewel!? I quickly do the math in my head. That's about 100,000 dollars! I take the job off of the request board, then quickly think of something. "Nab," I ask nervously, "Can you read this?" I show him the job.

"Hm?" He examines the paper. "No, it's just a bunch of gibberish to me. Why?"

"O-oh, I was just wondering what it was," I reply, starting to get a bit scared. I decide to do the one thing that I never see any main character ever do in anything. I approach an authority figure.

"Master?" I ask Makarov, who is sitting at his usual place on the bar, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Of course, Concordia," he says, "Is something wrong?"

"N-no, it's just..." I trail off, unsure how to continue. I think for a couple seconds, then decide to do what I did with Nab, "Can you read this?"

"Hmm... No, it's just random letters," he says, "Can you?"

I nervously nod. "It's a request asking for me, specifically, to go to the forest. I-it's offering 10,000,000 Jewel."

"That's suspicious. Are you planning on doing the mission?" he asks, keeping his emotions hidden. At least, I think he is. It's a bit unlikely for someone to be this calm in this situation.

I look down at the paper, wondering just what they could mean. "I-if you think I should, then I will, I guess..." I mutter just loudly enough for him to hear. I would prefer not to go alone, but if I said that, he would probably make someone go with me, and that would be incredibly nerve-wracking for me.

"Hm. Well, I can't let you go alone... so..." he mutters, obviously thinking of who he should send with me. I guess it's decided, then. Huzzah for forced socialization!

After a few seconds of quiet contemplation, he shouts, "Gray!"

The half-naked young man answers, "Yeah?" Oh dear, I'm going to have to go with him? Hopefully he'll keep his clothes on!

"Concordia is going on a mission that might be a trap. Go with her and keep her out of trouble!" the master yells at him. Him? Keep _me_ out of trouble? Geez, he's just as hot-headed as Natsu, and you know it! … who am I even talking to?

"Fine. I didn't have anything I was going to do today, anyway." He walks over to me. "So, what kind of job is this supposed to be?'

"Well... first, I think the paper is enchanted so that only I can read it..." I lie. Clearly, it's the translators that were put in my head, but he doesn't need to know that. "It says to go to a location in the forest east of here... and that I'll know it when I'm there?"

"Hmph. That definitely sounds like a trap. But whoever it is is clearly looking for you, so you might as well get it out of the way with them," he says. Wow. Honestly, that is more logic than I expected from Gray. Oh well, I'll just go along with it.

"Yeah... I'm not very good with combat, so the master decided that you should go with me..." I say nervously, "Um... let's go?"

"Yeah, okay." The two of us leave the guild in silence, Gray somehow wearing all his clothes again.

"So..." I say, trying to get rid of the silence, "Why do you take off your clothes so much?" I mean, I already know why, but I'm just trying to make conversation with him.

"My teacher taught me that way, and I can't seem to break the habit," he says stiffly. I frown, remembering that he still feels responsible for his teacher's 'death'.

"Oh," I say, trying to think of something else to talk about, "Um... so what kind of magic can you do?" Again, I already know, but I have to _try_ to make conversation.

"Ice Make Magic," he says. Well, I guess he isn't annoyed with me anymore.

"Oh, really? You can use Molding Magic too? I, uh, I started to learn Shadow Make Magic, but I didn't have time to learn to actually cast it, so... uh... I'm not very good at it..." I say, starting to feel a little despondent. I mean, who am I supposed to ask about my magic? I don't know anyone who can use it, so‒

"Wait, did you say _Shadow_ Make Magic?" he asks, suspicion filling his voice.

"Um... yes?" I say, confused as to what he's suspicious about.

He stops and looks at me, as if he were examining my entire being. I suffer through it for only a few seconds before he says, "There's no such thing."

"H-huh?" I ask. There's no such thing? What? How... what!? "W-what do you mean!? Of course there is! I even cast it to make these clothes!" And suddenly I'm reminded that I don't have any real clothes and that I should buy some if I actually get the reward for this mission.

He looks at my clothes. "I wondered why you were wearing the same thing... but my master, Ul, taught me about all the different kinds of Molding Magic. There is no Shadow Make."

"B-but... there's Wood Make and even _Memory Make_! Why isn't there a Shadow Make?" I ask, forgetting about my disguise for a minute. How could this be!?

"I don't know, but there isn't one," he says to me, "If there were, I would know about it."

I sit down. I feel too shaky to keep myself up. "B-but... then... she lied to me..." Tears start to fill my eyes, and I quickly blink them away. How could she lie? Why would she do that? And how much else did she lie about!?

I look up at Gray, and I see that his expression is softer than it was before. He leans down to me and asks, "Who is 'she'?"

This is it. This is where my disguise completely falls apart. You know those scenes in books when someone suffers some sort of mental breakdown, and they uncontrollably pour their heart out to someone they hardly know? I never thought that it could even be _possible_ for it to happen to me. I'm just not that kind of person.

But it did.

Honestly, after telling Gray everything, and I do mean _everything_, I feel much better. When I look up at him, I can see that his opinion of me hasn't diminished one bit, and just that one simple fact allows me to recover enough to stand up.

"U-um... sorry about that..." I mutter, now feeling rather embarrassed. I mean, we hardly even know each other! "I guess that's been building up for a long time." That must have been a _looong_ buildup.

He smiles reassuringly at me, "It's okay. So, about the job?"

~~~~SCENE TRANSITION~~~~

Gray and I make our way through the forest. The moment we had entered it, I felt something tug on my mind, pulling me in one direction, and Gray had followed without any questions. Minutes start to stretch into hours, and I can feel my impatience clawing at the inside of my mind.

"Where is it?" I mutter, "How much farther could it be?" Suddenly I stop. This is exactly where I'm supposed to be. I look to Gray and nod. He nods back and prepares to unleash a magical attack.

"So... I see you brought a friend... how quaint..." says a mysterious voice. It seems almost condescending in tone, as if me and Gray were nothing more than insects.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" shouts Gray.

"If your 'friend' wishes to accompany you, I see no need to obstruct him" the voice continues, ignoring Gray, "Just step through this portal. I can't guarantee anything that happens beyond that, but I believe that at least one of you will return unharmed. Physically, of course." A dark, shadowy-looking portal appears next to me.

I look over to Gray, and we both nod at the same time, and walk through the portal together.

We enter a massive room made completely out of stone. There are no visible light sources, but somehow I can still see. I look over at Gray, and, from the way he's looking around, he can see as well. Under our feet is a completely black carpet leading up to a stone throne that seems coated in darkness.

"So. I have finally found you," says a new voice, "And you have brought a powerful intruder with you? Why have you done this?"

I get the feeling that it's asking me, so I decide to answer it. "I brought this 'intruder' because I have no idea who or what you are, or why you called me here, or what your intentions for me even are." I have no idea where my confidence is coming from, but I'm glad for it. There's only so much you can do while cowering and stuttering.

The voice is silent for a second, then the shadows on the throne shift. "You do not recognize me? What is this?" It snarls angrily. "What have you done to her, _ice mage!?_" it roars at Gray, "_What have you done to her!?"_

I butt in, "_He_ has done nothing to me! The only thing he has done is comfort me when I was upset, and try to protect me from what might be a threat!" Okay, seriously, where was all this coming from? I am _not_ like this, normally.

In the background I hear Gray being indignant about being called an ice mage is such an insulting tone.

"I... I see," says the voice, obviously still upset, but trying to conceal it. The shadows near the throne shift again. "What has happened to you, Concordia?"

I shake my head. "I have no idea what you're talking about. And how did you learn my name?"

"I... I..." The voice seems to be lost for words. "I am sorry. I was not expecting this. I am... less than proficient in this kind of situation." There is silence for a few seconds, before, "Dibellus! I need your assistance!"

Gray and I both get into battle postures. Or, well, I think mine is, at least. Who could this Dibellus be? And what is going on!?

A young girl enters the room. She, like me, has black hair, black eyes, and pale skin. Unlike me, however, she is wearing actual clothes, as evidenced by the fact that there are colors other than black on them. She takes one look at me and gasps, "Concordia! You're back!" She tackles me with a flying hug.

Both Gray and I are startled by her actions, and I have no chance to prepare as I am tackled to the ground. When I look down at her, I see she isn't trying anything violent, but instead she is cuddling up against me. After a short time, she stops and looks up at me. "Cordy? Is something wrong?" she asks, clearly worried.

It takes me a moment, but I burst into laughter when I realize that she is referring to me. "C-cordy!?" I manage out through my giggles, "Is that supposed to be _my_ nickname!?"

Dibellus looks rather put out by my laughter, "Yes, and you're normally really angry when I call you it." This shuts me up.

"U-um... did the two of you know me at some point? Because I don't remember you, at all," I say nervously.

Dibellus's eyes fill up with tears. "Y-you don't remember us? B-but... how?" Honestly, she looks so cute and pitiful that I feel really bad for not pretending that I knew her. But I steel my heart. I must not fall for her childish charms!

Oh god, this is already difficult. "I don't know. But I don't remember anything before a few days ago," I say, throwing a look at Gray to make sure he shuts up. He gets the message, and doesn't say anything.

"Y-you don't?" she asks. She starts sniffling, before bursting completely into tears.

"H-hey!" I look over at the shadows on the throne, "Aren't you going to do anything? She's crying!"

The voice is silent for a few seconds. "Shouldn't you?" it finally says, "After all, you often comforted her before."

I glare at it, "I don't know who she is! _You _clearly know her, so she's _your_ responsibility, not mine!" My words only seem to make her cry harder. "See, I'm terrible at this!" Also, her hugging me is starting to get really uncomfortable. Not that I'm going to say that out loud.

"... So you _really_ don't remember anything?" the voice asked. I glare at it for an answer. "Fine, fine. I had thought... maybe it had just been a joke. But, clearly, you are completely serious." It pauses for a moment. "... I don't know where to begin."

I continue to glare at it. "Well, for starters, maybe you should calm Dibellus down and make her stop hugging me!"

"Of course," the voice says, "Dibellus, I wish to speak to Concordia alone. Perhaps I can return her memory to her." Gray protests at being forgotten about and ignored. The trend continues.

Dibellus nods and, wiping away her tears, morosely makes her way out of the room. After she leaves, I turn to the shadow, "So, what's going on!? And who was that!?"

The voice sighs. "I did not expect to have to explain this to you, but I guess I will have to." The shadows surrounding the throne suddenly gather together to form a large, bipedal shape.

The being is about twice as tall as an average man, but hunched over, resulting in its total height being about one and a half times as tall. It appears to be a silhouette of some kind of armored figure, with a completely flat, triangular faceplate. It has two white spots where its eyes would be, and its body is outlined with more white. It seems vaguely masculine.

"I am‒" the being starts to say before he disappears completely.

"W-what just happened? Where did he go?" asks Gray, completely shocked. I, however, don't respond, as I am thinking intently. What had he been about to say?

"Well, well, well, we can't just let you go hearing that, now can we?" came a horribly familiar voice, "Now, now, I know you're upset with me, but I didn't lie."

I turn around. Right where I was expecting her, Tempora stood confidently. "Y-you told me that I would use Shadow Make Magic! But it doesn't exist!" I yell, angry with her. Of course I am, how could I not be?

"Of course it does. I made it just for you, of course. Couldn't let anyone else have the same magic," she says cheerfully. "After all," she continues, her voice turning dark, "You wouldn't want to be found out, would you?" Suddenly, her voice returns to it's normal cheerfulness, "I didn't expect you to tell _Gray_ of all people! I mean, I saw it as a possibility, but I never seriously considered it!" She starts giggling. After a moment, she returns to normal, "But, I suppose it is for the best. He _is_ the only one who can help you with your magic, after all." She pauses as if lost in thought, then says seductively, "I don't suppose you'd want _me_ to help you with your magic? All you'd have to do is‒"

"No," I say, "I don't trust you anymore. I never should have in the first place!" I walk to the portal that me and Gray had come in through, then turn, "Gray, we should leave now. There is no more reason to stay here." He nods and quickly follows.

"Poop," says Tempora, clearly disappointed, "Oh, well. Have fun with your new life! _I know I will..." _And to think that I believed that she would be like... No! I will _not_ think about it!

Exiting the portal, the first voice sounds almost, disappointed. "You both returned? And mentally sound? The king must be becoming softer..." It sighs loudly, not noticing that me and Gray are already walking away. "Well, I have been directly ordered not to harm you, so I will allow you to leave." It pauses a second, "Wait! You're just going to ignore me!?"

After several minutes, my confidence suddenly drains away, and I fall over. Gray rushes to my side, clearly worried after everything that happened. "Are you all right?" he asks.

I nod. No reason worry him, but... now that I think about it, I know the name Dibellus. But from where? I shake my head. I need to get my mind off this. "I-I'm fine."

The two of us slowly make our way back to the guild. Just before we reach it, I am suddenly filled with apprehension. Tempora is time itself... so she could do anything she wanted... and she has no reason to care whether someone is innocent or not...

When we reach the guild, I notice with immense relief that it is perfectly fine. Fairy Tail is still Fairy Tail. Just before we enter it, I feel a weight suddenly appear in my dress.

I pat the weight, wondering what it is. It feels like two oddly shaped objects. I take my hand and concentrate on moving it _through _the dress, and pull out two bulging envelopes. They are exactly the same size.

I examine them. One says 'To Concordia' and the other says 'To Gray'. I hand the one with Gray's name on it to him, and he asks, "What is it?"

"I have no idea," I say truthfully. I stare at the envelope for a few seconds, "Say, Gray, could you, you know, keep what I told you earlier a secret from the rest of the guild for a while? I want to be the one to tell them."

He raises his eyebrow at me, but nods. "I trust you not to do anything to endanger the guild, then," he says sternly, pocketing the envelope.

"Of course," I say, smiling. We both head to the master to tell him what happened.

I see the master at his usual spot. "Master? We've returned," I say.

"So you have. Did you find out what the job was about?" he asks.

"Yes," I say. I proceed to tell him everything that had transpired. Gray inputted his opinion at several points, but it was mostly me. After I finished, I waited to see what he would say.

"So, you're from another world, and you're trying to find out whose body you stole on accident? Is that right?" the master says, and I nod. It's extremely simplified, but it gets the gist across. "And you met the woman who sent you here on your job. Hm..." He goes quiet for a few seconds. "Well, you know that every member of this guild is your family. You can trust them with anything. However, I will respect your wish to keep this secret, especially since you promise to tell everyone eventually." He strokes his chin, then says, "And I think you should try opening the envelopes here, where I am here to contain everything if it's a trap."

I nod. It's an idea. Of course, it could be a trap set with the assumption that this very thing would happen, so it was still a big risk. I tentatively open.

My eyes widen. It is filled with money. There is a small note inside. I pick it up and read it. It says, "For completing the job. The other half of the reward is in Gray's." I look up at Gray, and we grin at each other. It _could_ be a trap, but I had my doubts about that theory now.

**AN: I hope you liked this chapter. Honestly, something about this chapter doesn't sit quite right with me, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it is. Any reviews would be much appreciated!**


	4. Fairy Hills

**As Night Falls**

_Chapter Four_

Fairy Hills

**AN: I don't own Fairy Tail!**

After completing that suspicious job, I now have enough money to survive for at least a few months without assistance. Because of this, I decide to approach the Fairy Hills dormitory. Of course, this requires knowledge of its location. Which requires asking someone. Which is difficult.

I try to remember who should be living in Fairy Hills at the moment... let's see... um... there's Erza... Levy... um... Bisca and Laki... I can't think of any others... The only one's I'd probably be comfortable talking with would be Erza and Levy... and Erza isn't here yet... so Levy it is, I guess?

I think for a few more minutes, then conclude that Levy is the safest bet. Wait, what if she thinks it's weird that I just ask out of the blue!? I should wait until... she's ready to leave? Wouldn't waiting until she leaves make it look like I'm stalking her? Ugh... why do I have to be so shy? I'm sure she'd be fine with me asking right now, but nooo. I _can't_. I _have_ to overthink people's reactions to things.

"Blegh..." I say, expressing my distaste at my internal conflict with a single sound. Looking down at the bar table underneath my crossed arms, I contemplate increasingly more random ways to ask Levy where Fairy Hills is.

My expression must have caught someone's attention, because, as I think more, someone says, "Are you all right, Concordia?" I look up, and I see Mirajane standing in front of me, without her usual smile. "You look kind of down. Did something happen on the job?"

My lips immediately twitch up into a nervous grin. "N-no," I stammer out, "N-nothing happened... I... well... er... I kind of... got my hands on some money... and, er, I wanted to stop l-leeching off of L-Lucy as soon as I could, but..." Not knowing how to end the sentence without sounding awkward, I just leave it hanging.

She smiles at me. "Of course. Well, Fairy Tail's girl's dormitory, Fairy Hills, might be where you want to go. The rent isn't exactly cheap, but it's quite a nice place. Many of our female members choose to stay there."

Of course, I already know about it, and I know the rent, but because of my disguise, I am required to ask, "What is the rent? It sounds like a nice place."

"It's 100,000 Jewel per month, but it has a lot of amenities that makes it worth the price," she says. "Oh!" she exclaims, "Aren't you friends with Levy? She has a room there. If you want to know more about it, you could just ask her." She smiles at me, and walks away to perform her guild duties.

Hm. So, back to square one. I gained practically nothing from that conversation. Oh, well. At least now I have a reason for knowing about Fairy Hills now. I just need to ask Levy where it is. Crap.

~~~~SCENE TRANSITION~~~~

So, being the absolutely awful procrastinator that I am, instead of talking to Levy like I should, I instead head back to the library and start studying again. The entire time I am attempting to guilt myself into actually doing something, but I continually ignore my own advice. I don't like that, but I just sort of pretend I don't care what I do or don't like. Oh, that was confusing.

Anyway, after much studying, I decide to test my powers again. I'm still convinced that Tempora was lying about this being Shadow Molding Magic, because, now that I think about it, it doesn't really seem to work like other Molding Magics. I mean, sure, there was that one spell, but it only worked once, and for all I know, all I need is desire to actually do the magic. Magic is confusing.

I stand, relaxed, in the center of the room, with my eyes closed. I wait several seconds, then steady my breathing. All of this is just to try to get me into the right state of mind to perform my magic in. I have no idea what it is, but it probably involves focusing on the world around me, or something like that.

After exactly ten seconds, I open my eyes again, and the world has become negative once again. I look around, and notice that the shadows in the corners don't seem to be there anymore. Perhaps they had something to do with that mission earlier? I notice that my mind seems to have settled into a calm state. I take a step forward, and the world becomes disjointed, partially negative and partially positive.

My movement must have distracted my mind long enough to start my change back to normal vision.

I wait a few seconds, and the world slowly slips back into place, completely negative once more. I concentrate extremely hard this time, and take another step. The world becomes disjointed again, but not as much.

After a few minutes of practice, I find that if I concentrate completely on maintaining this state of mind, it stays together. However, if I am even a little bit distracted, the entire things starts falling apart again. And once I discover that, of course I immediately start thinking of distracting things, like my house situation.

How am I supposed to do this? Just walk up to her and ask if I can walk to Fairy Hills with her? Oh, and I'll need to inform Lucy, when she gets back, that I'll no longer need to stay with her. And what if I don't earn enough money in the buffer I've set up for myself? Will I just go back to staying with Lucy? That seems like it'd be a bit rude. I guess I'll just have to work really, _really_ hard. And I don't like working hard.

I mentally slap myself for being so lazy and easy to distract, then go back to trying to concentrate. I spend the next hour doing nothing but concentrating, stepping forward, and repeating.

After that hour, I find that, as long as I don't think too much about my normal vision, I can walk around and stay with the negative vision. I'll call it 'Shadow Vision' for now, because it makes sense and I have nothing else to call it. I have Normal Vision and Shadow Vision.

Anyway, now is when I see what effects Shadow Vision has on my appearance. You may think it odd, but this entire time, I haven't looked at myself while using it. I don't entirely know why, but I guess it was just low priority.

I look down at my body, and it looks exactly the same as it does with Normal Vision. Which basically means I stand out a lot more than usual. This means that either I am a constant in this world, or my appearance has changed to peoples' Normal Vision. I decide to test it out by leaving the library.

…

Okay, I'll admit, I was kind of hoping for someone to be standing right outside the library. But of course, anime laws don't apply to me, so I have to try the risky way: Walking out into the incredibly busy guild without knowing what I look like. Oh, well, I guess. They'll find out sooner or later if this is how I'm going to cast magic.

Standing right before the door into the guild, I take several deep breaths to calm myself down. It doesn't really work. So, I'm incredibly nervous, and liable to jump at a single twitch as I slowly open the door and sneak through it.

After sneaking through I realize that that was a dumb idea. If I hadn't snuck through, then maybe a couple people would have noticed, and I could have contained the information before it spread. Now, I can only call the attention of the entire guild at once. Assuming I'm visible to Normal Vision, of course.

I see Mira walking around, behind the bar. No one seems to be paying too much attention to her, so maybe I can try her instead! If I'm lucky. Which I'm probably not.

I walk up to her and try to gain her attention. At first, she doesn't notice, probably because I'm speaking so quietly I can't even hear myself, but once I reach a range that humans are capable of hearing, she twitches a little. Encouraged by this, I start speaking even louder. This time, she notices, and looks around.

Her eyes pass over me twice without seeing me. Curious, I approach her and stand directly in front of her. She doesn't notice me, even when I start waving my hands about. I frown and think. So, my appearance must be unseeable to normal humans.

I decide to try something a little more risky. Now, in an anime, at this point, the protagonist would try taking their clothes off or dancing on a table or something. Of course, being me, my first concern is how long this will last. And, this is based on how long I can concentrate, which probably isn't very long.

At that exact moment, my concentration fails, the entire world falls apart and returns to Normal Vision, and Mira notices me standing in front in her. "Oh? Where did you come from, Concordia?" Seriously, that woman is unfazable.

"Oh, um... just, you know, practicing my magic..." I mutter nervously, wondering what she would think about the situation. Hopefully nothing bad.

"Oh," she says, completely nonchalant, "Try not to destroy anything, all right?"

"O-okay," I say. After this, I decide that practicing could wait a little. I would need to see how much my skill decreases over time in order to properly schedule training.

Emboldened after my recent success, I tried approaching Levy, who was sitting around with Jet and Droy after completing whatever their mission for today was. "U-um," I stammer out, "L-levy?"

She looks up and notices me. She smiles. "Something you wanted to talk about, Concordia?" she asks.

"U-um, yeah," I say, "I recently acquired some money, and I wanted to stop leeching off of Lucy... so, Mira said that you live at the Fairy Tail girls' dormitory, and... I... well... um..." I try to think of a way to end that sentence, but I can't, and while I'm thinking, Levy starts talking, probably thinking I'm done.

"Oh, you're going to live in Fairy Hills too? Of course, I'll show you around!" She then starts listing the various things that I apparently need to see inside the dormitory. Which I've probably already seen through the OVA. But I guess knowing where things are might be useful. Maybe.

I merely smile in response. Anything else would just be too much for me.

"Come on!" she says happily. She waves to Jet and Droy and leads me out. I follow her, while Jet and Droy just wave back and settle down at one of the tables. After a short walk east in a comfortable silence, we arrive at Fairy Hills, the really large building that Fairy Tail's female wizards live in. In case you weren't paying attention.

"Here it is," says Levy, "Fairy Hills. Let's go inside!" And so we go inside. Levy shows me all of the things that Lucy had been shown in that OVA, like the baths, the archives, and all of the currently occupied rooms. You know, the same as the OVA, just not including Wendy and Juvia's rooms. After that, I approach the current owner, Ruchio. He is very nice, if a bit forgettable, and after a few seconds of discussion, I successfully rent my room.

After saying goodbye to Levy, who goes back to the main guild hall, I head up to my room. Now, I _think_ that I may have taken the room that was _supposed_ to go to Juvia, but I don't think it will matter _too_ much. And there's always the chance that I didn't and I'm just being paranoid.

Anyway, when I enter my room, it's mostly plain, with only a small dresser, a bed, and a simple set of curtains as decoration. I immediately start thinking of ways to improve it. After a full hour of absolutely terrible ideas, I give up and, memorizing the exact position of my room, head back to the guild.

When I arrive back at the guild, Lucy, Natsu, and Happy are back from their Daybreak, or whatever it was called, mission. I nervously approach Lucy. "U-um, Lucy?" I ask. It's really, really annoying when you can't get a sentence out without stuttering sometimes.

"Hm?" she says.

"Well, I've f-found a place to stay at by myself, so I will no longer n-need to stay with you," I say, my lips twitching upwards a little near the end as I grow in confidence, "I just wanted to tell you in advance."

She grins widely at me, "Good for you! I hope you're happy with it!" Aw, Lucy's so nice. Or really good at hiding sarcasm. But I like to think that she's nice. It seems more... Lucy, than sarcasm.

I nod slightly, "Y-yes. I don't have much furniture or anything, but I'm sure that will come in time." My lips now turn upward into an actual, soft smile. Not that it's even really noticeable. But it's there!

After short, meaningless conversation with various members of the guild that I feel mildly comfortable with, I approach Gray as he's leaving the guild for a job. Now, after my slight breakdown in front of him, I was really, really worried that he would find me annoying.

However, when I talked to him, he greeted me, as friendly as ever. "Hey, Concordia."

"Hi," I reply, still slightly nervous.

"Did you want to talk about something?" he asks, a slightly concerned look on his face. "Does it have anything to do with," he looks around, before leaning closer and whispering, "you-know-what?"

I shake my head. It has nothing to do with Tempora or that shadow-y guy. Instead, I explain, "I just wanted to let you know that the next mission we go on together will be the one where absolutely everything is revealed. Okay? It shouldn't be very far in the future." I squirm a little. "I'm actually really nervous about it." My face hardens, and my hand clenches into a fist. "But my guildmates deserve to know who I am. And I have confidence that you will still accept me, even after you learn everything."

Gray looks a bit surprised by this information. Or perhaps it's the sheer confidence flowing through my voice like water and silt through a river. "Alright then. I look forward to it," he says, his surprise melting into a full grin, "I wanna know who you were before you arrived here. And how you knew about Fairy Tail beforehand."

Yeah, okay, maybe I had been lying when I had said I told him '_everything_', but I told him _almost_ everything! Does that count? No? Okay...

So I say goodbye to Gray, and I head back to my room back at Fairy Hills. To practice magic. Now, my constant practicing might seem a bit strange to an outsider, especially since I seem to be developing the magical ability faster than most can, but I really need to learn my capabilities, and try to cast magic. I really want to be able to at least help before Phantom Lord attacks.

Of course, my knowledge of the future might end up making me even more valuable than any other member, but I don't really want to count that. I didn't really do anything to get it, and informing Fairy Tail is only something that anyone should have done. Well, if the fight is required to make the characters advance enough to defeat the next one, I won't tell them anything. I guess there are some times where I'll be secretive with the info, but most of the time I will tell them at least what they're up against.

Maybe.

So, when I arrive at Fairy Hills, I have completely forgotten the reason why I came. Fortunately, however, I _do_ remember where my room is, so there's that.

For some reason, when I enter my room, there is a large box on the desk. And when I say large, I mean it. It was at least thirty centimeters tall, it was about as long as a sheet of paper, and a few centimeters wider.

After lifting the box up and checking it for hidden booby traps, I carefully open it. Before the flap is open all the way, I involuntarily close my eyes, prepared for the worst.

When nothing happens, I open my eyes again and, seeing nothing around me, I look inside.

Inside the box is a large stack of paper with writing on it, and a large stack of pencils. Seriously, there must have been _hundreds_ of pencils in there! Anyway, when I pull the paper out of the box and start reading it, my mouth starts to turn downward into a frown. How could these be here?

The first thirty or so pages are covered in writing, and each of them is titled with a story name. Each of them is one of the stories that I've written, or at least begun. When I examine the papers themselves, they are written up to the exact point that I had left them on back home. Many of the stories are absolutely awful, showing my level of skill when I had written them. The more developed ones were moderately less awful, but I still didn't care much for them.

The next forty were covered in drawings and doodles. Some were so bad that they made me physically cringe just looking at them. Others were, well... less bad. None were what I would call "good", and none were very close to what I had envisioned them to be.

Then it hit me. I have all the free time I could want, and no Internet to spend it on! What would be better than spending my free time improving my drawing and writing skills? Of course! If I do that, then surely I will improve, however slowly! And, based on how much I can do with free time, I'll probably be at least acceptable by the end of next month! Or maybe a little farther!

A grin sneaks its way onto my face as I start pulling out blank pieces of paper and scribbling on them, sometimes writing, sometimes drawing. Sometimes I would practice my handwriting, attempting to improve it by careful, slow strokes.

Hours and hours pass as I use up paper after paper, pencil after pencil. My ideas flow onto the pages and then are set aside for future examination, when I can look back on them and try to determine what I had meant.

At some point that night, I must have just collapsed. A young child's metabolism isn't exactly suited for all-nighters. Whatever the case, I wake up hours later in the late morning with only one thought in my head. _Erza'll be here soon_.

Now, if that isn't a scary thought by itself, I don't know what is. In preparation for Erza's arrival, I decide to try to actually do something with my magic.

I activate my Shadow Vision, following a hunch that it allows me to cast easier. Then, I try a spell. Instead of saying any old incantation, I just focus on what I want. After a second, a black magic circle with strange runic symbols appears on the ground below me.

The magic circle rotates, then shines brightly, and then everything goes dark. My vision is blocked for several seconds, and then it recedes, revealing that I somehow moved to a sitting position on the other side of my room.

I look down at myself. The dress, shirt, and all that I had been wearing previously is gone, now replaced by a simple light grey shirt with darker grey pants. My hair is still tied in a ponytail with a black ribbon, but it seems to be sleeker and darker. The rest remains the same.

I continue to examine myself, and I wonder how I managed the spell with so little training. There must be something, somewhere that hints at what's going on with this body!

Feeling a flash of inspiration, I quickly pull out the pile of papers that have my stories written on them. Pulling out an ideas sheet for one of the stories, I quickly scan it, eventually coming to the name of one of the main characters.

_Dibellus Nox, _it read. No... that can't be...

Impossible...

My name is Concordia Nox. And apparently I have a little sister.

**AN: I apologize for the long wait, but between the lack of response for the last chapter, and school, I wasn't feeling particularly motivated to write. I would appreciate a review!**


	5. Learning More (And Breaking a Train)

**As Night Falls**

_Chapter Five_

Learning More (And Breaking a Train)

**AN: I don't own Fairy Tail. :3**

**Sorry about the wait, but it's hard to get motivated without feedback, people.**

After reading up on Dibellus Nox as much as I could, I came to several conclusions. First: whatever had happened to the real Concordia, she had been forgotten about by the time my story took place. The story also is supposed to happen in twelve years, so I guess that makes sense. Second: she was the daughter of the Shadow. Although he has a really uncreative name, he is a very formidable being, and, I quote, "[he] rules the Dark Ocean from its very deepest point, where light cannot even begin to exist, and instead, things become darker than shadows and can be seen once again". Like, wow. Explains how we could see him, though. And lastly, I really wish I could have been a dreamcaster.

Seriously, I mean come on! They can do anything they believe they can do! And that means _anything!_ Most of them aren't even taught common sense _just_ to make them better at their magic.

Of course, part my mind was screaming at me about how this was all scientifically impossible, but I've learned to ignore that part. It's really easy now.

After reading up on the story as much as I can, which isn't much―the story had never left the planning stage―I pack it all away and quickly leave my room. Walking through the corridors of the dormitory, I wonder what it would be like to meet Erza. Probably very frightening, if nothing else.

Of course, those thoughts remind me that Erza is going to return soon, so I increase my pace. I pass Ruchio at the front desk, waving good morning to him as I do so. Excited, my pace starts increasing subtly, until I'm practically running for the guild.

I slow down, not wanting to have to explain my excitement to my guildmates, seeing as how they don't know what I know. As I walk, I force myself to examine my surroundings, ignoring the growing, and completely unreasonable, dread that was filling me. I mean, really, was there really any advantage to being there when she arrives instead of arriving just after?

Of course, being me, reason doesn't apply very well.

After a short, high-speed walk, I arrive at the guild. Looking inside, Erza is nowhere to be seen. Probably for the best. Anyway, I enter the guild and begin toward the counter, ready to begin looking like I'm contemplating something, when suddenly there is a loud crash, and the front doors slam open.

"This is bad!" yells Loke, being the one who slammed the doors. There is a short pause, then he says, at a lower volume, "It's Erza... She's back!"

No sooner do the words leave his mouth before nearly everyone—excepting me, Lucy, and Mira, curiously—basically screamed in fear. They all muttered, frightened, to each other. Nearby, Mira is explaining to Lucy who exactly Erza is.

Right at that moment, a dark silhouette carrying a large hookish object stalked over to the doorway. It was impossible to make out detail, but I could easily reason that it was Erza. I mean, who else walks around like they're carrying two other people?

Confirming my suspicions, the other members of the guild began to mutter apprehensively about Erza's return. For whatever reason, it took Erza like, an hour to walk through a single doorway, probably because of anime logic.

The red-haired, armoured mage crosses the guild hall in seconds and sets down the demon horn that she had gotten from hunting or something like that. "I've returned. Is the master here?" she asks.

"S-so pretty..." mutters Lucy, obviously so stricken by Erza's raw beauty that her words fail her.

Honestly, words failed me too, but that's just because I'm terrible with people. Especially emotional people... and I just realized that Fairy Tail is a group of people who use their emotions to increase their fighting strength.

Dang it.

Anyway, Mira replied to Erza with, "Welcome back! The master's at a conference."

"I see," says Erza.

Some guy I don't know the name of (I don't really bother to learn the names of anyone less important than Jet and Droy) asks, trepidation filling his voice, "What is that humongous thing, Erza?"

"The horn of a monster I subdued," she says simply. Ah-hah! I knew it! She continues, "The locals decorated it and gave it to me as a souvenir. Is it a problem?" With the last few words, she turns to almost-glare at the guy she is talking to.

"No, not in the least!" basically everyone screams.

People start muttering amongst themselves. From the general direction of Cana, I hear someone mention something about Mount Hakobe. Hopefully nothing bad about me...

Wait, I wasn't even there. Silly me, my memory isn't _that_ bad.

Or is it?

No, I don't think it is. At least, it isn't normally.

"Listen up!" Erza yells. Everyone around me immediately comes to attention. I do so more lazily, trying my absolute best not to show weakness. For some dumb reason, no doubt. Anyway, when Erza continues, she does so in a lower tone of voice. "On the road, I heard that Fairy Tail has been causing yet more trouble. The master may not care, but I do!" She then starts berating everyone for every single thing that they've done wrong. She actually goes on for much longer than the anime displays, pointing out the flaws in everyone but Mira, Lucy, and I.

When Gray and Natsu are pretending to be friends in front of Erza, I notice that it's actually much more subtle than the anime portrays it. I mean, they still look really nervous, and Natsu still does his best Happy impression, but they don't sweat more water than goes over Niagara Falls. Still, Erza is pretty oblivious if she doesn't notice the lie.

And now the guild members are talking about things that Erza has done. Ugh... I... I'll just sit down now.

"Natsu... Gray... I have something to ask," says Erza. I sit up and start eavesdropping on their loud conversation. I don't remember this part... oh. Oh. I completely forgot about the Lullaby arc. As Erza starts explaining things to Natsu and Gray, I contemplate what my next course of action should be.

Clearly, this wasn't part of my original plan. I had been planning to introduce myself during the Galuna Island arc, but I don't want to miss the Lullaby arc, either. And I told Gray that I would introduce myself on the _next_ mission we went on together... Ugh, what should I do!? Should I just tell him that I miscalculated, and I meant the next mission? Or should I just not go?

Oh, but I really want to go! I mean, come on! I use shadows for magic, and Eisenwald has Kageyama, that guy who uses shadows for _his_ magic! It would be so useful to know how this world sees Shadow Magic! Okay, um... I'll go with them, like Lucy, and I'll tell Gray that I didn't expect this mission. Hopefully he'll understand.

~~~~SCENE TRANSITION~~~~

While Natsu, Erza, and Gray discuss their trip at great length, probably, I head out to town. I wander through several shops before I find what I need.

Inside, there ae a lot of random bits and bobs, like furniture, writing utensils, hygiene products. Imagine a slightly more primitive Walmart. I wander through the shop and easily find what I need. A handheld mirror.

I quickly pay for my item and leave.

While heading to the dormitory, I examine the mirror. Fortunately, it was completely plain, just a wooden handle attached to a mirror with a wooden frame. I slip it inside my shadow-clothing and walk until I reach the dormitory.

I walk upstairs and wander around until I remember what room I'm in. I quickly enter, close the door, and lock it.

I pull out the little mirror, and lean it against a wall, so that it's facing me. I pull out a piece of paper and a pencil and write: "Normal Vision: Can see self normally". I step back and close my eyes.

Focusing, I summon my power and open my eyes. The familiar negativity welcomes me. I approach the mirror and examine it.

It is as I thought. I cannot see myself in it. I walk over to the paper, pick up the pencil, and write: "Shadow Vision: Cannot be seen".

I grin, although I can't see it, and I allow my concentration to relax, slightly, so that the world shatters visually. You know, just to see what happens.

When I look back at the mirror, I can see my silhouette. Sort of. It looks like me, except made only out of black and various shades of dark grey. It seems to be releasing little streams of smoke-like shadows. My eyes glow a bright and pure white. When my lips start to curl into a smile, a thin, bright white line splits apart my face. I write on the paper: "Halfway: Shadow version of self, with spotlight eyes and mouth.".

I decide to test another thing out. I restart my Shadow Vision, hold out my hand, palm up, close my eyes, and concentrate hard on creating a simple, featureless sphere. I concentrate so hard that my eyes start to hurt.

Once I feel like I can't do it anymore, I feel a cool sensation upon my palm. I open my eyes and see a small, black orb, releasing little wisps of shadow. It disappears after a few seconds.

The smile on my face would have disturbed the Cheshire Cat.

~~~~SCENE TRANSITION~~~~

Smoke puffs out of the nearby train. The air is filled with the angry cries of Natsu as he and Gray complain about being teamed up. On a nearby bench, a blond Celestial Spirit Mage, holding a Nikola spirit, could be heard muttering, "I don't know them, I don't know them..." repeatedly.

Happy, eating a blue fish asks her, "Why _are _you here, Lucy?"

Lucy stops her muttering and replies, "It's because of Mira..." Her face is downcast in embarassment. "She asked me to stop them if they fight..."

Happy nonchalantly says, "You aren't stopping them, though."

"I know," she replies, looking over at the two mages, surrounded by fire and ice, "but..."

Interrupting Lucy, Erza says, "I'm sorry. Did I keep you waiting?" At the sound of her voice, Natsu and Gray's magic fades and their panic is evident on their face.

"Oh! Erza!" says Lucy, turning to look at her savior. What she sees makes her blanche. "So much luggage!"

Natsu and Gray immediately put their arms around each other's shoulders and start pretending to be best friends. Badly, of course. And of course Erza doesn't even notice.

"So, who are you two?" she asks, smiling, "Didn't I see you at Fairy Tail yesterday?"

"I-I'm Lucy! I just joined!" says, guess who, Lucy, "Mira asked me to come with you too. It's nice to meet you!" Meanwhile, in the background, Gray and Natsu are butting heads again.

"I-I'm... Concordia..." I mutter, then yawn. Honestly, staying up all night to practice magic is a really bad idea when you have a mission the next day. Buuuut, I didn't have a clock, so I had no idea when I was supposed to go to bed! Take that, responsibility! I have an excuse! Sorry, I get weird when I'm tired.

I don't mention why I'm coming, and Erza doesn't ask. Instead, she says, "I'm Erza. It's a pleasure." She pauses, then seems to realize something. "Ah, so you're Lucy? The one who defeated a mercenary gorilla with just your little finger?" Oh, how _wrong_ she is! "It'll be wonderful to have you on board. Thanks for your help." When Lucy starts stuttering, Erza turns to me and says, "And you're the one who went on that mission with that 10,000,000 Jewel reward?" I nod slowly, and she nods back. "It'll be nice to have someone like you on board." Before I can even process what Erza says, let alone protest at the trust she's wrongly placing on me, Natsu interrupts.

"Erza, I'll come along, but on one condition," he says, seriously. Gray starts to panic when he hears that.

"What is it? Tell me," says Erza.

Natsu clutches his fist and practically growls, "Fight me once we get back!" Everyone, besides me and Erza, immediately freaks out. Erza, because Erza, and me, because I'm really freaking tired, okay!? Gray even asks him if he wants to _die_.

I stop paying attention to Natsu's boasting, because he seems to do it a lot. After their conversation, the train's whistle blows, and we get on it.

After seating ourselves, the train starts up, and Natsu immediately collapses from motion sickness. Of course, I end up sitting right between Lucy and Erza. I'm so small, apparently, that I could fit between the two of them without us squishing uncomfortably against each other.

Gray complains to Natsu, "Geez, you're pathetic. This, immediately after picking a fight?"

"It's gotta to be tough doing this every time..." says Lucy sympathetically.

"Oh, all right," says Erza, "Come sit next to me." Lucy and I get up and switch spots with Natsu. Gray moves over a little for me. I smile at him, before nervously realizing that I forgot to warn him about the whole "I wasn't expecting this mission" bit. Happy, being the silly cat that he is, gets off the chair only to sit back down on my lap as soon as I sit down.

Oh... that won't turn out well.

"Just relax," says Erza, before she punches Natsu in the stomach and he collapses, unconscious. "There. That should be better." Lucy gets that "I'm really nervous/embarrassed right now but I'm not going to say it" face that they get in anime.

"Erza, isn't it about time you fill us in?" asks Gray, "What exactly are we doing?"

Erza nods, "Right. We're going up against the Eisenwald dark guild."

When Erza says 'dark guild' I am extremely tempted to say "I take offence to that!" in response. However, my better judgement prevents me from doing so.

"They plan to use a magic called Lullaby for something big," continues Erza.

Lucy and Gray immediately start talking about how they met some guys who mentioned Lullaby before. I don't know. I wasn't really paying attention.

Anyway, Erza says, "I see. So you've encountered Eisenwald as well."

"Probably," replies Gray, "They did mention something about Lullaby."

"It sounds like they were guild dropouts," says Erza, "The plan must've been too much for them, so they ran off."

"And that plan has something to do with Lullaby?" asks Gray. _Yes,_ Gray, it _does_. It's only what we've been speaking about this entire time. Sorry, I get easily annoyed when I'm tired, as well.

Erza continues, "It's only a guess, but the shadow that dragged them off was probably Eisenwald's main squad. They must not have wanted the plan to get out." Well, that's not ominous in the least.

"What kind of plan are we talking about?" asks Lucy. I snort quietly in response. "What?"

At her question, the corners of my mouth turn up slightly. "Well, the magic is called Lullaby, so I would assume that it either puts people to sleep or kills them. Considering who we're dealing with, I would guess the latter." Erza and Lucy just stare at my rapid-fire deductions (which are in no way assisted by my foreknowledge of the events of this mission), while Gray settles with just being mildly impressed. Or bored. I can't really tell which.

Erza is the first to recover, and says, "Allow me to explain everything in order. It happened the other day, on my way home after that job. I stopped by a pub in Onibas where wizards gather. There was a group of men there, discussing Lullaby. One, who was called Kage by his comrades, claimed to be able to unseal it within three days." She glances out the window, then back to us. "The fact that it's sealed away likely means it's very powerful magic."

"And they were members of Eisenwald too?" asks Gray.

"Yes," replies Erza, "Like a fool, though, I didn't recognize the name 'Erigor' at the time." She leans forward to create dramatic tension, "He's the ace of the Eisenwald dark guild. He only accepts assassination-related jobs, for which he earned the nickname 'Erigor the Reaper'."

"Assassination!?" asks Lucy, startled.

Erza nods, "The council outlawed assassination requests, but Eisenwald decided that money is more important. As a result, it was kicked out of the wizard guild league six years ago. However, they disobeyed orders and remain active to this day." Which makes you think, really. If Eisenwald is breaking the law just by existing, then how come the Magic Council hasn't done anything about them? I mean, being the overall government of all magic users, couldn't they easily get their hands on a decent tracker/locator/whatever-they-need-to-find-the-guild-er? And with their magic power, couldn't they just obliterate the guild hall without even blinking? Curious, very curious...

"I think maybe I'll go home..." murmurs Lucy, obviously frightened. She's also sweating a really gross amount. Uhm, yeah, so I scoot closer to Gray for perfectly justifiable reasons.

Erza slams her fist into the side of Natsu's unconscious head. "I was careless!" she mutters angrily, "If only I had recognized Erigor's name then, I could have pulverized them and had them confess their scheme!" Okay, I don't think _'pulverize'_ is the word that I would use to describe what Erza does to her enemies. It's not extreme enough.

Lucy freaks out because Eza's even scarier than Eisenwald. Which is entirely true.

"I see," says Gray, as if nothing happened, "So Eisenwald is planning to do something with this Lullaby, and you want to stop them because it's obviously something bad?" Yes, thank you Gray, for dumbing everything down for the less clever anime watchers.

"Yes," says Erza, echoing my thoughts, "I don't believe I can take on an entire guild by myself." Pffffttt. Ahh, Erza, you say the silliest things. Anyway, she continues with, "That's why I asked for your help. We're going to storm the Eisenwald guild!"

"Sounds interesting," says Gray, ever the belligerent young man.

"Aye!" says Happy, ever the annoying blue cat.

"I shouldn't have come..." mutters Lucy, shaking in her seat. Plue seems to agree with her sentiment, his snowman-like face turning blue and starting to... uh... melt?

Anyway, the ride until lunch passes with only small talk that I take no part in.

So, for lunch, Lucy, being the person that she is, tries to seduce the guy selling sandwiches just for a discount. Talk about an abuse of your feminine wiles.

We all return to our seats with a large box of sandwiches. And a couple of fish for Happy. I also end up moving to the other side of Lucy so that I'm no longer sitting underneath Happy. I don't have any problems with the guy, but, come on. _Fish_. Eugh.

"If it's not rude to ask, what kind of magic do you use, Erza?" asks Lucy.

"It's not rude," says Erza.

Happy turns to Lucy and says, "Erza's magic is pretty! It makes her enemies bleed a lot!" Sometimes, I'm completely convinced that Happy is puposely being disturbing to mess with Lucy. This is one of those times.

"You call that pretty?" asks Lucy, being properly befuddled by the cat's speech.

Erza takes a bite out of her strawberry cake, "Personally, I think Gray's magic is prettier." Well... yeah. It's kind of true.

"Really?" asks Gray. He holds out one hand, palm up, with his other hand resting on it as a fist. An ice-blue magic circle appears, then freezing air shoots out of the space between his fingers. He opens up his hands to reveal an exact replica of Fairy Tail's symbol made out of ice. Then he somehow makes it _float_. That's right. It _floats_. That's not ice magic.

Lucy apparently doesn't think the same why I do, and merely exclaims her astonishment that Gray can actually make pretty things.

Gray just says, "Ice magic."

"Oh! Is that why you two never get along?" asks Lucy, "Because Natsu uses fire and you use ice?" Lucy... I just... I just can't... Luckily the others don't notice my face repeatedly meeting my palm. You better be careful there, Right Hand. Left Hand might get jealous.

"Oh, I never thought of that," says Erza, clearly wondering why she hadn't noticed something so obvious.

"Does it matter?" asks Gray, clearly already bored by the subject matter.

Gray turns to me and asks, "Have you figured out how to use your magic yet?" Lucy, Erza, and Happy all turn to me as well, clearly curious.

I flinch away from the attention, and, suddenly nervous, nod quickly. Then, because they're all clearly expecting me to display some of it, because, you know, anime, I activate my Shadow Vision.

The shock on their faces was quite amusing, at least. Lucy panicks and starts saying things like, "She just _melted!_" and silly things like that.

I just say, "No, I didn't." That shuts her up, and calls all the attention in the little booth to me. Of course, they can't see me at all, so I guess they're very good at determining where an object is based on sound. I return to Normal Vision. "It's a branch of Shadow Magic that only I have," I say. If you're a bit confused by that, then that's normal. I haven't told you that me, Dibellus, and apparently our brother whose name is Tiberius each have a unique brand of magic that only we have. Something about being half magic, half human or something like that. I don't know any of ours. Not even mine.

Of course, that's assuming that several-years-ago-me actually was right. But, since everything seemed to fit so far, I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt. Which is probably the worst possible thing I could do. And correct.

Anyway, we eventually arrive at Onibas Station, which is apparently where we're headed. I didn't know this because _nobody tells me anything!_ Even when I'm important to the plan (which, to be fair, isn't the case right now) I am kept out of the loop. It's quite strange really. And it's probably some kind of disease that I'm a carrier for, or something, because it happens all the time.

"Are the Eisenwald guys still in this town?" asks Gray, stepping out of the train.

Erza shakes her head, already standing on the platform, "I don't know. That's what we're here to find out."

As the two of them plus Lucy and Happy start to walk away, I stay on the train with Natsu. While I may not remember as much of the show as I would like, I definitely remember the next scene. Maybe I can prevent some inconveniences later on. I quickly activate my Shadow Vision and sit back down on the seat across from Natsu's unconscious body.

So as Natsu slumps in his chair, and I easily restrain myself from helping him when he's clearly in pain (because I'm a bad person like that), I watch for Kage's foretold approach.

I see him walk down the aisle until he spots Natsu. "What's this?" he asks, "Fairy Tail? You're a wizard in a legitimate guild? I'm jealous!"

"Huh?" asks Natsu, turning up his head and clearly not thinking completely straight.

Kage shoves his boot into Natsu face, which, by the way, is unsanitary and you shouldn't do it, and says, "Don't act big just 'cause you're in an official guild, Mr. Fairy. Do you know what we call you guys? We call you flies!" Now, don't get me wrong here. I love Kage's character. But... _flies?_ Couldn't they come up with a better insult?

Continuing with the story, Natsu glares at Kage from under the boot. He surrounds his hands with fire, making Kage jump away.

"Whoops!"

"You..." begins Natsu angrily, before the train's motions disturb his magic. Okay, how is he not completely incapacitated at this point?

"Huh? You call that magic?" asks Kage insultingly, "Real magic..." A black magic circle appears underneath Kage, but before he can cast his spell, I intervene.

I Shatter my Vision, becoming a shadowy silhouette with eyes that glow brighter than the sun. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

"Huh!?" asks Kage, clearly surprised by my sudden appearance, "Who the hell are you!?"

In response, I giggle as creepily as I can, then Unshatter my Vision again, disappearing again. I walk behind him as he's looking around in a panic. Standing behind him, I Shatter my Vision, conjure up a small object and throw it at him. Before he turns to notice me I Unshatter once more.

The object, a black cube, strikes him on the head and shatters. A single piece lands in his right hand, and he looks at it.

A grin snakes its way across his face, and he casts a spell. No, I have no idea what the incantation was, because I was in _way too much freaking pain oh my spirits this hurts so much I'm being ripped apart!_

Yes, that is my exact thought process. My Vision returns to normal and I am being held by Kage's shadowy tentacles. Oh... wait...

Um, I'm never saying that again.

Anyway, ignoring the possible innuendo that I may have just accidentally thought, the entire train screeches to a halt, disturbing Kage's balance, forcing him to drop me, and enabling Natsu to concentrate.

"I-It stopped," says Natsu. He looks across the floor at Lullaby and asks, "Huh? What's that?"

Kage stands up and furiously says, "You've seen it!"

"Shut up! Now it's payback time!" yells Natsu, slamming his hands together while fire erupts around him. He gathers the fire onto his right hand and leaps.

Just before Natsu lands, Kage cries out, "Guard Shadow!" and attempts to block his attack. It doesn't work very well, and Kage is launched across the room and lands on top of me. "Damn you!" he mutters, wiping a little blood off of his face.

Suddenly, he seems to realize what he's laying on. His entire body tenses up and his head starts to turn. Just before he does so, I Shatter my Vision and he falls through my incorporeal form and onto the ground. I stand up, return to normal, and slap him. I want to say that I hit him hard, but I would be lying. Me hitting him with that cube had just been a fluke; I hadn't actually been aiming for him.

So, about the whole slapping-not-very-hard thing... um... I don't like hurting people, and that's all it really amounts to. Because of that, my body resists using full force against any living thing. I automatically soften every blow, if I don't stop it completely. It's really annoying sometimes. Like now.

"D-did you just slap me?" Kage asks, as if stunned by the sheer lack of force behind my attack. Which is a reasonable guess. Just imagine putting your hand to your face quickly. That's about how much force was behind my attack. Yeah... not much.

"Our emergency stop was due to a false alarm," says a feminine announcer voice, interrupting whatever snarky remark I might have come up with, but probably wouldn't have, "We will depart again shortly."

Natsu swears and starts picking up his stuff. Kage starts to struggle to get up, but I stand on his chest and keep him from moving. I... weigh a bit more than you'd expect, honestly.

"You'll pay for messing with the Eisenwald guild!" he shouts, like some kind of video game common enemy who can't figure out when they're overpowered.

I shake my head at Natsu when he turns to reply, and he nods and jumps out the window, landing safely. I yell, quietly, out at him, "Tell Erza where the... um... what is... eh... oh, you know!" I assume he hears me, but the train starts up before he can reply.

So, I stand there, on top of a struggling Kageyama, while the train is blurring through the countryside already. I was already very well balanced, but now, because of my new body, my ability to balance through ridiculous situations had increased tenfold!

Somewhere behind the train, I hear a loud crash and an even louder scream. Erza probably hit him with her magic school bus or something.

I wait a few minutes, then I hear the sound of a Magic-Mobile™ approaching the window. "Concordia!" come the yells.

"In this one!" I say, thinking quickly and conjuring an incredibly noticeable cloud of light grey smoke outside of the window. A loud thud resounds through the compartment, and I see Gray climb up through the window. He looks into the compartment, sees me, grins, and climbs all the way through.

He then notices my choice of doormats. "Um... what are you standing on?" he asks.

"Kageyama. The guy from Eisenwald," is my response, "Lullaby is on the floor over there." I point to the middle of the train car. He nods, quickly finds it despite the destruction, and picks it up.

Gray motions to me, and we both run to the window and jump out. We land some ways away from the rest of the team, who stopped a while back, and we quickly walk over to them. Natsu appears to be annoyed, but he seems to be restraining himself.

Of course, when he notices Gray he immediately stops and they both start arguing over trivial matters. I slip Lullaby out of Gray's hand and walk over to Erza and present it to her. "This is Lullaby," I say.

"Thank you," she says, as she starts to reach for it.

"Wait," I say, "I think there's a safer place to put it, than in your hands or pockets or whatever." I turn to Lucy, "Could you hold this vertically, right about where your stomach is?" She does as I instruct, and I active my Shadow Vision, then walk right through the flute. "Drop it and retract your hand to your body as quickly as you can," I say. She does so, and I return to normal.

A strange and uncomfortable feeling suddenly appears in my stomach, and I start to feel nauseous. However, after a couple seconds, the feeling fades away. I smile. Another theory from several years ago confirmed! Things that are half living shadow don't need organs to survive.

Of course, I had been banking everything on the hope that it wouldn't kill me instantly. Since it didn't, I can always become incorporeal again and remove it.

Lucy and Erza look visibly disturbed by what I just did. Secretly, in my head, I get a sick and twisted grin on my imaginary face. "What?" I ask, as innocently as possible, "Is there something on my face?"

**AN: So, there's another episode done. Say, has anyone else noticed that I've been doing this episode by episode? I swear, this was completely on accident. However, if this trend continues, with an average of 4,000 words per chapter... if I include all the original story content that I'm going to add, this whole thing will easily be over a million words. Kind of weird to think about, huh?**

**Also, I would very much like a REVIEW please. Pretty please? With a cherry on top? I promise there will be no bad consequences for it. :3**


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